The District was created on March 18, 1966 with the division of the
Northern and
Southern districts, leading to the creation of the
Central and Eastern districts.[1]

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. Since December 29, 2017, the current United States Attorney is
McGregor W. Scott.

Yosemite Office hears
misdemeanor and petty criminal offenses in
Yosemite National Park. National parks are under federal jurisdiction. The perennially large crowds of tourists at Yosemite create a unique situation justifying the presence of a courthouse inside the park itself.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as
senior status or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1

Seat reassigned from Northern District on September 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75

Request for Expansion of the Court

The six sitting judges and three senior judges have submitted a draft letter[7] to the members of the Senate and House of Representatives from the Eastern District in which they argue that population growth in the District has necessitated an increase in the number of District Judges.